Readers' recipes

Mabuhay!

Ginggay Joven-Dela Merced of Visions and Expressions told me at a party that she never realized that I was a "prolific writer" (read: "Grabe ka mag-blog!" Haha!) It's true—I blog like there's no tomorrow because I have so many ideas I want to share. I feel that my mind races 100 mph that I need a docking area, so to speak, to release some of my energy. Hence, my blog.

One of my favorite posts are my food blogs. I love sharing easy, simple, and yummy recipes. When I first started my journey a year ago on healthy eating, I cooked more at home. It was life-changing! For someone who ate mostly unhealthy meals, I was able to cross over to loving veggies, tofu, steamed food, eating whole wheat bread, making meals from scratch, and loving it! If only I could program my brain to love fruits. Oh well...

Red chicken curry from scratch. I never knew how easy and delicious it was to make your own curry as oppose to buying packed curry pastes.

I learned that by cooking more at home, I could give my family the best nutrition. It taught me the value of healthy eating. Our bodies are our temple and food is central to our lives. In my opinion, it would be unwise to keep fueling it, especially our children, with unhealthy meals. Trust me, I haven't gone granola, in fact, I still eat fast food and I enjoy every morsel of processed meat, but it's all about balance. It took me a year to slowly wean myself from my bad eating habits and it was one of the best things I've ever done.  I feel great inside and out! I believe that the key to eating healthy is cooking your own food or asking your cook to cook them for you. Haha!

We eat more fish than beef and pork now. I make super easy and yummy fish soft tacos at least twice a week. In this photo, cream dory with chili powder, Himalayan pink salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper.

I know that for some, cooking can be daunting. Trust me, you don't need complicated recipes (not yet at least) or a high-tech kitchen appliances or a fancy kitchen to cook. Most of the recipes I make are easy and involve only the basics. I do have a few kitchen must-haves like an iron skillet (best for searing meats as it holds the heat well), food processor, and "The Liza 2000" (my helper) to help me prep the ingredients. Most of the time, all I need is a sharp knife, cutting boards (for cutting chicken, a separate cutting board is a must),  a whisk, a mixing bowl and a decent gas range. However, I'm at a point now that I want a convection oven. Tom are you reading this? ;D

Though it would be nice to have your dream kitchen, you can cook amazing meals with just the basics.
Then again, this kitchen showcase is something I pray for every night! LOL

This week is special because after sharing my recipes online, I have proof now that my readers really try them! I lav et!

Thanks everyone for giving me a heads-up on your recipes! Keep them coming!

From Mega Magazine's Carla Casanova:

Carla's Facebook status: "Experimented with Jenni Epperson's shakshooka recipe. I added tuna for a chunkier, veggie-friendly, meatier texture and melted some cheese in. Ta-dah!!! It was super scrumptious!! :-D"

From one of my Twitter followers, "freetilora":

A Twitpic of "freetilora's" version of shakshooka.

Your versions of shakshooka rock! \m/

Now, there's the issue of white bread... Baby steps. Haha!


Shoppingero/shoppingera, Twitpic/Tweetphoto, etc. or email me your versions of my recipe and I would gladly blog about them.